Hughes v. State, No. 2007-KA-00209-SCT.

• Decision Date: 27 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007-KA-00209-SCT.
• Citation: 983 So.2d 270
• Parties: Yasmine HUGHES a/k/a Yasmin Hughes v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

983 So.2d 270

Yasmine HUGHES a/k/a Yasmin Hughes v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2007-KA-00209-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 27, 2008.

Rehearing Denied June 12, 2008.

James T. McCafferty, Jackson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Before WALLER, P.J., CARLSON and LAMAR, JJ.

WALLER, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. On November 27, 2006, Yasmin Hughes was tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of Winston County on one count of armed robbery, for which he was sentenced to serve thirty years, and two counts of aggravated assault, for which he was sentenced to serve twenty years each, with the sentences to run concurrently. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the evening of May 2, 2006, Jack "Bubba" Warner, Jr. (Warner), his wife Pat, and his seventeen-year-old son Cody were at their home in Louisville, Mississippi. Around 10:00 p.m., Warner heard a knock at their carport door. Warner opened the door to find two young males, each dressed in black sweatshirts and pants. These young men were later identified as Adrion Webster and Yasmin Hughes.

¶ 3. Webster, who was standing closest to the door, said that he and Hughes had run out of gas and asked to use Warner's phone. Warner stepped back into the house, grabbed his cordless phone, and handed the phone to Webster. Webster made a phone call and told the person that he had run out of gas.¹ Warner then asked Webster how far down the road they were and specifically asked if they were past the bridge.² Webster responded that they were down around the bridge.

¶ 4. In fact, Webster and Hughes had not run out of gas³ and their vehicle was not around either a bridge or culvert. Rather, they had parked their truck down a small dirt road, approximately 150 to 200 yards from Warner's home.

¶ 5. As Webster returned the phone to Warner, Hughes, who was standing in the back, pulled a hood over his head.⁴ Feeling that something was about to go wrong, Warner offered the two men a gallon or two of gas that he kept under his carport. Webster refused the offer and said "[t]hey are bringing us some gas."

¶ 6. When Warner turned to go back into the house, Webster shot Warner three times. Warner's wife, Pat, heard the gunshots and ran to the carport door. Pat was shot at twice, one bullet hitting her in the leg and the other hitting the door frame. Seeing that his wife had been shot, Warner ran toward Webster. Warner was then shot in the groin. Webster and Hughes ran out of the carport and toward the back of Warner's home. Pat was taken to the Louisville hospital and later released, while Warner was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

¶ 7. The ensuing investigation showed that Webster's phone call had gone to an answering machine at the home of Talmadge Edwards, Hughes's uncle with whom Hughes was staying at the time. On May 5, 2006, Officer Greg Clark of the Louisville Police Department and Agent Clay Bain with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation interviewed Hughes. Hughes waived his rights and gave a statement. Initially, Hughes denied any involvement in the crime and said he had spent the evening in question around Edwards's home. However, Hughes gave a second, signed statement in which he stated the following:

[Webster] picked me up from my house and we went riding around town. We got into a conversation about money and ways to make money. We were talking about huslting [sic], robbing and even right ways to make money.⁵ [Webster] asked to use my phone and I told him I didnt [sic] have it. [Webster] pulled over and told me to walk up to someone [sic] house with him so he could use the phone. A man answer [sic] the door and let [Webster] use the phone. When [Webster] gave the phone back I turned away and started walking toward the truck when I heard gun shots. I ran and didnt [sic] look back. When we got back to the car he was asking me why did I run and then said forget it lets [sic] just get away before the police come. After that he took me home.

Hughes also told Officer Clark that after he and Webster returned to the truck, Webster looked at him and said, "Why did you run? That was our lick."⁶

¶ 8. On September 26, 2006, Hughes was indicted on one count of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.⁷ On November 27, 2006, Hughes was tried and convicted on all three counts. Hughes was sentenced to thirty years on the armed robbery charge and twenty years each on the aggravated assault charges, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

¶ 9. On appeal, Hughes raises the following assignments of error: (I) whether Hughes's conviction was based on insufficient evidence or was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence; (II) whether the jury was required to accept a reasonable hypothesis consistent with Hughes's innocence; (III) whether the state proved the elements of armed robbery; (IV) whether the trial court erred in giving a supplemental instruction to the jury; (V) whether prosecutorial misconduct requires reversal; and (VI) whether Hughes's conviction should be reversed due to other errors or cumulative error.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether Hughes's conviction was based on insufficient evidence or was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

A. Sufficiency of the evidence.

¶ 10. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court will reverse and render only if the facts and inferences "`point in favor of the defendant on any element of the offense with sufficient force that reasonable men could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty,'. . . ." Brown v. State, 965 So.2d 1023, 1030 (Miss.2007) (quoting Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 843 (Miss.2005)). The evidence will be deemed sufficient if "`having in mind the beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof standard, reasonable fair-minded men in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions on every element of the offense,'. . . ." Brown, 965 So.2d at 1030 (quoting Bush, 895 So.2d at 843). The relevant question is whether "`any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.'" Brown, 965 So.2d at 1030 (quoting Bush, 895 So.2d at 843).

¶ 11. This Court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the state. Bush, 895 So.2d at 843. The state receives the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Wilson v. State, 936 So.2d 357, 363 (Miss.2006) (citing Hawthorne v. State, 835 So.2d 14, 22 (Miss.2003)).

¶ 12. Hughes argues that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he aided and abetted the crimes of armed robbery or aggravated assault. Hughes submits that there is no evidence to show that he had prior knowledge of Webster's criminal intent, that he participated in the crimes in any way, or that he otherwise aided and abetted the commission of the crimes. Hughes asserts that he was merely present at the scene and never communicated an intent to aid or encourage Webster's actions.

¶ 13. Hughes points to the testimony of Officer Greg Clark, who stated that there was no evidence of any plan to rob the Warners, or that Hughes knew about Webster's gun. Hughes also contends that Webster's statement, "Why did you run? That was our lick," occurred after the fact and provides no evidence that Hughes knew beforehand that Webster had a gun or was going to assault anyone.

¶ 14. One who aids and abets another in the commission of a crime is guilty as a principal. Rubenstein v. State, 941 So.2d 735, 773 n. 18 (Miss.2006) (quoting King v. State, 857 So.2d 702, 739 (Miss. 2003)). To aid and abet the commission of a felony, one must "`do something that will incite, encourage, or assist the actual perpetrator in the commission of the crime . . . . [or] participate[ ] in the design of the felony.'" Vaughn v. State, 712 So.2d 721, 724 (Miss.1998) (quoting Malone v. State, 486 So.2d 360, 363-64 (Miss.1986)). Criminal law does not recognize guilt by association. Davis v. State, 586 So.2d 817, 821 (Miss.1991) (citing Pryor v. State, 239 So.2d 911, 912 (Miss.1970)). Mere presence, even with the intent of assisting in the crime, is insufficient "unless the intention to assist was in some way communicated to [the principal]." Crawford v. State, 133 Miss. 147, 151, 97 So. 534 (1923). Furthermore, "[p]roof that one has stood by at the commission of a crime without taking any steps to prevent it does not alone indicate such participation or combination in the wrong done as to show criminal liability, although he approve of the act." Harper v. State, 83 Miss. 402, 415, 35 So. 572, 573 (1903) (quoting McClain on Criminal Law, ch. 15, sec. 194).

¶ 15. Hughes discusses primarily two cases in support of his argument. In U.S. v. James, 528 F.2d 999 (5th Cir.1976), FBI agents and members of the Jackson police force engaged in a shoot-out with members of the Republic of New Africa [RNA], leaving one Jackson police officer dead and wounding another officer and an FBI agent. James, 528 F.2d at 1004. The Fifth Circuit reversed the conviction of Ann Lockhart, the wife of the RNA's vice-president, finding that there was insufficient evidence "to show that she had any knowledge of the conspiracy or participation in it." Id. at 1013. Lockhart was a resident of Wisconsin and had planned only a brief stay at the RNA headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi. Id. Even though Lockhart had purchased groceries and prepared meals for RNA members, the Fifth Circuit stated that "[m]ere presence at the scene of a crime or mere association with the members of a conspiracy is not enough to prove participation in it." Id.

¶ 16. In Cochran v. State, 191 Miss. 273, 2 So.2d 822 (1941), Cochran was arrested for possession of beer and slot machines inside a dance hall. Cochran, 2 So.2d at 822. This Court held that the arrest was unauthorized because Cochran...